Hiking California's Golden Trout Wilderness: A Guide to Backpacking and Day Hiking in the Golden Trout and South Sierra Wildernesses [Paperback]

Suzanne Swedo (Author)

Book Description

Series: Regional Hiking Series | Publication Date: March 1, 2004

Hiking California's Golden Trout Wilderness will help outdoor enthusiasts choose and plan a day hike or backpacking trip in the Golden Trout Wilderness or South Sierra Wilderness best suited to their time, energy, experience, and personal preferences. It offers a preview of what they are likely to see and experience along their chosen route: geological features, historical sites, trees, birds, flowers, and mammals. It helps readers anticipate places where the trail is faint, where it is clear, where and when rivers and streams are special sources of delight, or where there may be obstacles to travel. There are 43 specially selected backcountry adventures meticulously prepared by backcountry guide Suzanne Swedo.

Inside readers will find: detailed maps, accurate route profiles showing the ups and downs of each hike, tips on equipment, trip planning, hiking with dogs and children, accurate directions, difficulty ratings, trail contacts, and more.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Lace up your boots and sample forty-three hikes in California's Golden Trout and South Sierra Wilderness areas. Experience groves of giant sequoia; walk through expansive mountain meadows; or look for California's state fish, the golden trout, in the cool streams of this wilderness paradise. This guide to one of the state's most spectacular roadless regions will help outdoor enthusiasts choose and plan day hikes or backpacking trips that are best suited to their time, energy, and experience. Backcountry guide Suzanne Swedo points out the region's geological features, historical sites, trees, birds, flowers, and mammals, as well as places where the trail is faint, where it is clear, and where rivers and streams are obstacles to travel or special sources of delight.
Inside you'll find: in-depth trail information; detailed trail maps; elevation profiles; accurate directions from major access points; difficulty ratings for each hike.
Whether you're a day-tripper or long-distance hiker, old hand or novice, you'll find trails suited to your ability and interest in California's Golden Trout Wilderness.

About the Author

Suzanne Swedo, director of W.I.L.D., teaches wilderness survival and natural sciences at universities, museums, and organizations such as Yosemite Association and the Sierra Club. She has backpacked the mountains of every continent and led groups into the wilderness for over 25 years. Her books include Wilderness Survival, Hiking Yosemite National Park, Best Easy Day Hikes Yosemite National Park, and Adventure Travel Tips (Falcon Press). She lives in Van Nuys, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Falcon; 1st edition (March 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762726555
• ISBN-13: 978-0762726554
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #785,044 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A True Wilderness Experience, July 17, 2008

By 

Fritz R. Ward "dayhiker" (Crestline, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hiking California's Golden Trout Wilderness: A Guide to Backpacking and Day Hiking in the Golden Trout and South Sierra Wildernesses (Paperback)

With about 300,000 acres, California's Golden Trout Wilderness is one of the largest wilderness areas in the lower 48 states. But the total wilderness is much larger than even the above figure implies: Much of its southern and eastern border lies along the South Sierra Wilderness, while its northern boundaries lead into Sequoia National Park. Managed jointly by Sequoia and Inyo National Forest, the Golden Trout is a true national treasure and one of the few places in the Sierra Nevada Mountains where you can hike all day and hardly meet a person. Over the last 20 years I have traipsed through large portions of this area and each time I want to come back for more. Someday, I hope to spend an entire month just backpacking this region. Kern River tributaries, mountain streams, meadows ablaze with wildflowers, and fabulous fly fishing all await travelers to this roadless region. Only this book by Suzanne Swedo covers it all.

The Kern River cuts through the middle of the Golden Trout wilderness, dividing it as neatly as it divides the Sierra itself. To the west lies the Great Western Divide and, in the wilderness itself, the northern tip of Giant Sequoia National Monument. To the east lies the high peaks that overlook the Owens Valley. Just as the Kern divides the region, so too it divides this book. Chapters cover hikes from various trail heads in the west, along the Kern in the middle of the book, while routes through the high plateau to the east make up the final third of this volume. The bulk of the hikes described here are for backpackers; this region is simply too rugged and too large to be adequately explored by day hikes. Still, Swedo does provide a nice sampling of hikes from various trail heads if you want to get a glimpse of this spectacular region. I particularly recommend Casa Vieja Meadow (Hike 21), Trail Pass (Hike 25) and the rarely explored Mountain Home State Demonstration Forest (Hikes 1-3 in this book--be sure to take the Moses Gulch trail as well if you visit there). But these hikes provide only the smallest sampling of the wilderness. On the other extreme is the "Central Wilderness Grand Tour," an almost 80 mile route Swedo recommends to really appreciate all the Golden Trout has to offer. A handful of other route descriptions cover nearly 50 miles, one way! In all, this is a book for those who have a lot of time on their hands, or hope to in the near future.

In all, I enjoyed Swedo's writing style. Her descriptions are detailed and, insofar as I have hiked her routes, quite accurate. Occasionally, she is also simply fun to read, as when she describes the "newlywed" campsite, named after a packer and his bride who spent their honeymoon here. Noting all the mosquitos, she concludes it was obviously not a June wedding. The only area part of this book that is outdated is the note on bear cannisters. At the time this volume was written, they were only "recommended." On Inyo wilderness lands, they are now required.

Due to the difficulty in visiting and the sometimes poor roads to access trails, I doubt this book will give Ms. Swedo or Falcon Publishing the kind of best seller that her hiking guide to Yosemite generates. But this is a very valuable book to a very special place and those who love backpacking, hiking, and fishing in California's finest outdoor scenery should add this book to their library. I strongly recommend it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Meets all expectations, September 7, 2008

By 

R. D. Provins "Doug6100" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hiking California's Golden Trout Wilderness: A Guide to Backpacking and Day Hiking in the Golden Trout and South Sierra Wildernesses (Paperback)

This book does what it says it will do. It covers the basics including geology, history, a focus on zero impact trips, and other similar subjects. There are over 40 trips covered in the book. Each trip write up includes:

- Start location,
- Total distance in miles,
- Total climbing in feet,
- Estimated trail traffic,
- Best months to visit,
- Maps needed,
- Permits,
- Trailhead facilities,
- How to find the trail head,
- A one to two page write up description of the hike,
- A scaled map,
- A graphical presentation of the elevation gain and loss, and
- Key points and correlating mile markers for each trip.

The photos are in black and white (I would have preferred color). Of course, I did not buy a picture book. I guess that I will have to go see it in full color.

5.0 out of 5 stars Hiking California's Golden Trout Wilderness, August 12, 2008

By 

Russell Ford - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hiking California's Golden Trout Wilderness: A Guide to Backpacking and Day Hiking in the Golden Trout and South Sierra Wildernesses (Paperback)

The hikes are well described and the information needed before the hike is very helpful including the directions, wilderness permits, and local ranger station contact information. The maps give sufficient details and the graphics of the elevations are helpful. There is one thing that would have made this book more helpful. Having never hiked in this section of the Sierras I would have liked seeing a map of the complete area including trails. It took some head scratching and additional resources to completely plan several hikes I intend to make.Hiking California's Golden Trout Wilderness: A Guide to Backpacking and Day Hiking in the Golden Trout and South Sierra Wildernesses